Sisterhood Night with Lisa Harper

[Music] do [Music] welcome to sisterhood now hey ladies we are so excited that you are here joining with us tonight if we haven't met yet i'm chloe i'm a part of our cf students team so i want to give a shout out to all of our little sisters joining us tonight hey girls hey and i'm allison and i'm representing our riviera beach campus we are so excited you're here and hey if you're joining us online we want to know where you're joining us from that's right hit us up in the chat and then maybe tell us what your favorite snack is like what do you have in front of you right now what's your favorite snack oh chocolate anything chocolate doesn't even matter that's a good pick i like salt and vinegar potato chips raise your hand if you know what i'm talking about put it in the chat sweet you don't even have to choose you can have a little bit of both it's fine ladies it's fine that's so true and hey tonight is going to be incredible we are so excited we're going to have powerful worship we're going to have an incredible word from our senior pastor julie mullins and then we have our resident theologian hilarious so lisa harper here it's going to be an incredible night yes i love pastor julie i love pastor lisa it's gonna be so much fun and i do there's so much to love about sisterhood honestly i wanna know put your favorite thing about sisterhood in the chat it could be the worship the encouraging word there's so much to love but i thought i gotta have a moment of honesty okay okay i it's but one of my favorite things about sisterhood that i love is the merch i mean look at this shirt ladies you guys have you seen our new merch so much fun new merch look how cute allison looks listen you could look super cute too you got to rock this new merch we even have merch for the littlest the servies the little little sisterhood check that out oh my god so cute we have all kinds of fun merch and ladies you could win this merch all throughout the night so we're going to be doing fun giveaways because what what is sisterhood without giveaways you know pastor julie loves to give away fun things and so be listening all throughout the night of ways that you can win and get in on our giveaways it's going to be awesome that's so true and hey if you want to go ahead and shop you can do so on our online pop-up shop all you have to do is text sisterhood to four four one four for one to get your shirts right now it's gonna be awesome and hey another really special thing it's it's almost a tradition around here at sisterhood is the sisterhood selfie all right so that's right i've heard about this this is this is first annual this is allison's first annual this year i'm so excited let's go so get your phone out all right and we're gonna take we're gonna get ours right now allison yeah now take yours and we to see it okay we want to see it so make sure you tag us cf dot sisterhood tag us in your post and who knows they might even get a free t-shirt for that that is so great i love being able to do that and that's just a way that you can connect with other ladies right on social media and we want to change those pictures but we also want to stay connected even more so christ fellowship is all about connecting with other ladies and you can't do life alone that's not how god designed it right so we want to connect with you a way to do that is to text sisterhood to 441-441 where you can just get connected with us and we are so excited about that it's going to be awesome ladies we know that summer is here it's just around the corner and summer's going to be so much sweeter if we do it with our sister so i want to encourage you take that next step do it allison is encouraging you get connected because when we come together it's so much better and so we're looking forward to all that this summer has with our sisters that's right hey i think we're about to get started i i think it's time so ladies put your stretchy pants on yes get your bible out get ready for worship yes get ready for worship get your snacks get your girls together and we're gonna lean in right now here we go the day and its distractions now laid to rest you made it you're here take a deep breath breathe in out life in the sea share this truth everything comes in waves waves of waves of sadness waves of hope waves of fear wave after wave as sisters daughters mothers and friends it often feels like we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders we are daughters of the force of all nature we were created for so much more than to be storm survivors we are wave dancers [Music] [Music] [Music] upon the sea [Music] i will trust the voice i'm not gonna be afraid i'm not gonna be afraid [Music] peace [Music] [Music] us we ask for peace in this place let faith will rise up in me let face rise rise up oh [Music] please i see [Music] [Music] [Music] ladies it's so good to see you god has something awesome for us tonight do you believe it come on can you shake off the day get everything off get every distraction out of your mind the king wants to meet with you let's focus on him [Music] i've seen the faithfulness [Music] come on i will not be you keep the promises you make [Music] is [Music] is i will victory me nobody [Music] me is [Music] victory yes [Music] we put our trust in your jesus feels like a river wash over me [Music] immerse me in water as deep as the scene hide me peace like a river wash over me as i worship your majesty i worship your holy name [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] is [Music] drifting [Music] [Music] your majesty [Music] jesus jesus [Music] [Music] it again holy oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] like you've done [Music] is again heavenly [Music] is [Music] do it again do it again jesus do it again jesus do it again jesus all we need is [Music] father you are king over the flame [Music] [Music] [Music] still know you are [Music] oh [Music] you come at the right time when i least expect it never behind so why would i be surprised when you deliver oh every time [Music] you never changed is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh me [Music] come on declare with me god of my presence god of my future you write my story you hold it all together [Music] you are [Applause] ladies as we were singing that song i was looking across thinking of each of your stories the story god has for each of you for me and you may have walked in here and you're in the middle of something you're in the middle of a situation and it looks different for all 2000 whoever of us and all those watching we are in in a situation maybe it's one that we have had a loss and we don't know we didn't expect it maybe you're in a financial relationship situation or maybe you actually just don't feel near to god you just feel separated from him and you wonder what's going on maybe you've prayed for something that hasn't been answered and maybe you've been praying for years and you want i believe i can see but i haven't seen anything and you feel alone well i want to declare god's word over you today in isaiah 43 it says do not be afraid do not be afraid i have redeemed you i have called you by name fill in your name you are mine you will walk through deep waters you you're not alone you will walk through rivers of difficulty and you will not drown for i am your god that is our god yeah this is what i know god is a personal god he's not distant from us he's close to us his presence is here his power is here and if you i'm i'm yes give it a praise yes so excited he meets you in the middle of wherever you are whatever situation that you're in he's right all up in it i love it you know what if you walked in here and you you're in the middle of something and you would like me to pray for you you're like i need prayer i want to sense god's presence i want to i want to sense his power in my life right now would you just raise your hand and by raising your hand you're making you're giving an invitation god meet me in the middle intersect my middle get up all in the middle of my situation all right i'm going to pray for you dear jesus we call in your name when you say two or three are gathered in your name you're here well we've got more than that you're here with us we welcome your presence we welcome and invite it into our lives all through our our spirit in our mind and our thoughts god i pray for healing and bodies and emotions i pray against in jesus name against depression and anxiety god for the girl who is in here who's made a lot of mistakes and things are just all messed up may she know right now may your spirit give her a sense of peace and joy and confidence god you are no she's never too far from you that you pull her close she may feel far but you're not far from her so god give her a way out carry your her through the middle god we just pray for people who are trying to make decisions decisions that are at a cross point in life big decisions pray for wisdom god wisdom just pour over every heart in here that's looking for your word to download in their heart so that they can walk in obedience as you've called them god we are so thankful you're in the middle your word says you are the alpha and the omega you are the beginning you are the end and we are so glad you are a god that works miracles in the middle of god we thank you we praise you we receive what you're going to do in our lives today in every heart and every girl with her hand raised god they're inviting you we're inviting you to invade our heart intersect our lives we love you jesus in your name we pray ladies let's declare this again together oh me sisters we've had a solid word of god spoken over us and a very strong declaration sung over us what a blessing you all may have a seat you know what um this is so awesome to be you allison i love you girl love you sister yeah wasn't that powerful already already it's just been so powerful tonight and look the night is just beginning and so not only do we have an amazing night planned for you we have an amazing fun-filled summer plan for you that all of us ladies can be a part of this summer i love it and the best way you can find out all that information is to check out this video right now hey ladies i'm natalie and i'm natalie and we're here to bring you the so good sisterhood news yes we want to resource you with all the things you need to dance through the summer with the sisterhood that's right sisterhood summer groups are kicking off in just a couple weeks and we can't wait to group up around pastor lisa harper's new devotional called an obsessively grateful undone by jesus genuinely happy and not faking it through the hard stuff kind of life wow that's a mouthful but i actually cannot wait to dive right into it and i really don't know what i would do without my sisterhood group and if you don't have a group to jump into this summer we have one for you simply text sisterhood to 441-441 to find out how we would love to connect with you and we didn't forget about you students and young adults we have groups specifically designed for you that meet every week all throughout the summer follow cf.students and cf dot young adults on instagram for more information and the fun is not going to stop the summer we don't want you to miss out on any of it the best way for you to stay in the know on all things sisterhood is by following us on social media we'll keep your social media feed flowing with inspiring content specifically designed with you in mind along with that my personal favorite giveaways we'll be posting some fun social media giveaways throughout the summer so stay connected on both instagram and facebook but we know what you're thinking how do i get the new amazing sisterhood merch it's easy just stop by our pop-up shops during the after party or at your campus all weekend long or check out our website and shop online last year was a year like no other in the middle of so much change one thing did not change from west palm to belle glade india to thailand we as a sisterhood stepped up in a big way to right wrongs and rewrite stories in the lives of girls here in our own backyard and around the world last year we continued our support with a21 a global organization that is rescuing girls daily from the grip of human trafficking and setting them on a path of restoration and healing locally we were able to come alongside young single moms in our community to provide them with the necessary resources and support that they need to thrive as a mom and live out their full potential in thailand we partnered with world help to help fund a baking school so the girls have been rescued could have their own micro enterprise we even bought an oven so the girls could start up their own bakery in india we funded micro loans for women and girls to start their own businesses these businesses build a pathway out of the life of poverty for the entire family this year we are excited to be partnering with place of hope an organization who licenses and resources local foster families to care for children who have been abused abandoned and neglected and together we're celebrating foster care appreciation month by putting together family fun boxes to bring love and encouragement to these families who care so well for the kids in our community needing a loving and safe home the easiest way to be a part of this sisterhood project is by purchasing one of the games or snacks off of our amazon wish list or by bringing a new board game popcorn or bags of candy to your campus at church this weekend and dropping it at the sisterhood projects drop spot at the pop-up shop one thing i love about sisterhood is that it's made up of girls from all over the world in fact just a couple years ago we brought sisterhood night to the sisters of central and south america and so many were encouraged by the community of sisterhood and experienced the love of jesus through the generosity of sisterhood it was so amazing that we knew we needed to do it again so we are we are excited to bring this sisterhood night experience back to our international sisters in the coming months and we can't wait to see how god will move through it our commitment together as the sisterhood has the power to flip the script in a girl's life from captive to rescued from poverty to opportunity from despair to hope let's give generously so the light of joy can shine brighter than ever before this is going to be a so good summer with the sisterhood and we can't wait for all the information on all things sisterhood text sisterhood to 441 441 to find the links to everything that you can be a part of we truly believe the best is yet to come for all of our sisters of the house we love you and are so excited to dance through the summer together [Music] yeah so good right i had no idea how how much i said so good so much until our team started like creating videos and memes with me saying so good but i just have to tell you ladies it is so good to be back together right wow shout out to sisterhood in boynton and royal palm and okeechobee and christ fellowship espanol this has been so good already i love nights like this hey give me a shout out if this is your very first sisterhood night yeah that's so good right hey i just want to tell you that if this is your very first sisterhood night that sisterhood is so much more than just an event i mean event like this is amazing but sisterhood is not just an event it's really a movement it's a movement of girls of every generation that are just trying to figure out how to walk out this calling that god's put on our lives with with confidence and that together we could be a collective force for carrying the gospel of jesus christ to every woman across the globe and here locally and that we've been positioned as a collective force and we're just trying to trying to figure that out together that we could come together and do something together that we could never do on our own so everything that you just saw in that video is really just a snapshot of all that that we have done together over this past year and i can't wait to share more with you i we didn't get a chance to tell you about cars that we gave away and and places that we're going to be going in the months to come but you got to stay tuned to see what god has in store see i believe girls that god has positioned us at this time in history to be this collective force to carry the life-changing message of the gospel to girls whose voices have been silenced because of poverty or because of human trafficking and for girls even in our own region that they would be able to experience times like this and every time we come together like this i just want us to have an opportunity to just give to be a part of all that god's doing as is that we all that god's doing through us as a sisterhood so that so that we can continue to be an extension of the strength that we have as a sisterhood and you know when we come together like this we we take a moment just to be able to to give to this and i just want you to know that if you're here for the first time that there is never any pressure in this place to give but for those of us that want to see the mission and the vision of sisterhood move forward i just want to invite you to just give generously to to what god is doing in this place and around the world and so there's some easy ways that you can do that um there's some ways to give on the screen you can the safest way is to text the word sisterhood to 441 441 and there's a a secure link there's also a an envelope and the seat back in front of you that you can participate in this time but ladies i just really believe as we give generously we're going to see some things that we have never seen before so let's pray over our giving tonight god we thank you that every good and perfect gift comes from your hand and we pray god that you would use these gifts to be able to extend your hand to reflect your heart to girls in this region and all around the world it's in the mighty name of jesus that we prayed this and all the sisterhood said amen amen wow you know every year every january i begin to pray for a personal word for from me myself as we step into a new year and i also begin to pray for a word for our sisterhood knowing that there's going to be a night that is coming in the spring where we're going to gather together like this and every time i pray for this word i pray that it it's more than a theme for a night but that it's a word that together we can carry out of this place that we can carry out of this place into the days ahead that it's a word that could instill confidence and courage into your life and that it would be a word that that you that would that would sustain you in the days to come and so just like every year i prayed for a word this year because i want this night to be so much more so much more than what happens in this moment right i want this to be a word that you can carry out of this moment because it's not so much about what we do while we're in this place it's about who we're going to become when we walk out of this place and so this year when when i prayed for that word i felt like the god that god was beginning to speak to my heart and and so it would be really hard to miss the theme as you walked in tonight right i mean it was in every song that we sang it was on the invites that we passed out to you it was in every single environment and that that word is that that we we are being called up to dance on the waves and i know what some of you are thinking you know especially some of you that might know the bible really well you're thinking you know julie is that really biblical dancing on the waves because i googled that like bible verses about dancing on the waves and nothing came up and i just want to assure you that whenever i pray for a word i always make sure that it's in god's word okay and so i but i wanted to speak a word that would that would that would come from a place of confidence i wanted to speak a confident word a word that that comes from a place of experience and i think that all of us can say that you know that it might be easy to speak to the waves that come in the storm because all of us kind of walk through a storm in this last year can i get an amen right i know that i'm standing among some storm survivors in the house right and i am so thankful that we survived the storm of 2020 and even part of 2021 together and i want you to know girls i don't know if i could have made it without you i don't know if i could have made it without you and i watched the way that you all took care of each other and i am so grateful that we survived the storm together so i get that part about you know the waves part but the part about dancing this was a problem for me because if you know me at all you know that i cannot dance i mean i am incredibly awkward todd can testify to this right and as a matter of fact you know i never took dance lessons i was more of a sporty girl my very conservative christian high school did not have a prom so so i never danced and even the thought of dancing especially if anybody was watching um actually puts me in a panic so you can imagine what i felt like just a couple of years ago when our creative team came to me and they said um you know we have this really amazing idea that um that we want you to dance for the first time that you've ever danced in front of about 2 000 women at our amazing sisterhood event and i was like there is no way they're like yes you can do this and i i was like catching on to their confidence i know that god moves as sisterhood 9 so i'm thinking okay this may be my moment but i was a little bit nervous and so i i was kind of just you know a little nervous about it they said we're gonna give you a really good dance partner and they did they gave me a really cute dance partner that was todd right they said you know you're going to dance together i'm like hey you know we haven't danced together in 25 years but i'm gonna ride the wave of your confidence right but then they told us that this is the way this is the dance that we want you to do and so we have a picture of the dance they wanted us to do i've had the time of my life yeah but i was like you know what they have confidence in me and so i knew that it might take a few modifications and maybe a little bit of practice right but i thought you know what god is a god of miracles and i can do all things through christ who strengthens me and so we begin to i know it takes over so we need to begin to practice in our living room and so i knew we had to modify so at one point todd got down on his knees because i thought you know i'm probably not going to be able to make it all the way in the air but i could probably make it a little bit lower as he gets down on his knees and i run and i charge into his arms and instead of a perfect plank i run right into the coffee table over him there's a few bruises and scratches and i was a little bit injured but the show must go on right and so we did we showed up that night and we did the dance i made it about six inches off the ground right but hey i did it so you can imagine why the word dancing just is a little bit awkward i'm like lord why i don't want any of the girls here to get injured or feel awkward why would that be the word but what i realized was that the reason the reason i danced that night was because i was invited to dance see i said yes to an invitation i said yes and i responded to the invitation and and i said yes to an invitation to do something that i had never experienced before and what i want you to hear tonight ladies is that tonight dancing on the waves is an invitation and it's an invitation that's gonna demand a response because i believe that that god is calling his daughters up in this season to be so much more he's calling us up to to go to a place at the next level where we do not settle anymore for living in survival mode i believe that he is calling us up to a new level right and what i want you to hear is that in in god's word in god in god's word when jesus was on the earth he was constantly calling his followers up to so much more than they ever thought that they could do and you may be here tonight you said i'm just thankful to have survived the storm but i want you to know that jesus is calling you to more see in matthew chapter 14 jesus sends his disciples in in a boat and they were crossing over the sea of galilee it was about three o'clock in the morning the darkest of the night and this storm begins to emerge and the waves get to get get so high that the boat is getting tossed to and fro and it says that that they were fighting the disciples were fighting the waves just to stay afloat and right in the middle of the storm right in the middle of their darkest hour it says that jesus came toward them walking on the water and the disciples didn't recognize them they thought he was a ghost but as soon as they said as soon as jesus saw that they were scared he said this don't be afraid take courage i am here see jesus could have done the miracle from the shore he is god he could have done the miracle from the shore but instead he decided to go towards them he met them in the middle right in the middle of their storm what i want you to hear is that so many times when we are in a storm we want to get to the other side so that we can testify about the storm but what i want you to hear is that jesus is wanting to give you a testimony in the storm yes he can he can quiet that storm in an instant but you will miss the word that he wants to speak to you while you are in the middle of the storm see it's in the middle of the storm that that jesus does his greatest work he does his greatest work he calls us to intimacy independency he gives us a strength that will not just sustain us for the moment but will sustain us in the days to come see and he had something he wanted to say in this storm it says in verse 28 that that peter calls to him and says lord if it's really you tell me to come to you walking on the water and then jesus he does what jesus does he extends an invitation he extends an invitation just like his extending an invitation to you and he says this he says come to me come to me and so peter he he steps out of the boat and and he begins to walk on the waves and i just have to tell you right now remember these are really high waves and he's walking on the waves and i have to think that maybe that walking on the waves looked a little bit more like dancing right a little bit more like dancing at least a little bit more like my awkward dance when i think about dancing see see jesus peter was actually the original wave dancer he was a wave dancer and see many of you you know the story how it turns out that that when as long as he kept his eyes fixed on jesus he kept dancing on the waves right but as soon as he took his eyes off of jesus and on to the winds and the waves and the circumstances he began to sink but i wanted i want to let you know ladies we got to give him a break we got to give him a break this was his first storm with jesus this was the first storm he got better he got better at this see peter became the rock peter preached the very first message when in acts chapter 2 when when the church of jesus christ was born we are here today because peter danced on some waves see every single dance begins with a first step and and god is not upset when your first step is a misstep see even when peter started to sink he cries out for jesus to save him and it says that jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him that's because he was so close he was so close and this is how he is in the middle of your storm he is so close and i know at times you can feel like you're sinking but i want to just declare the words of jesus over you today do not fear take courage he is near see here's what i've learned over the last couple of years i used to think that life kind of came at us and in hills and valleys you know we had some really good times and then usually followed by some bad times and then some hard times hard times and then some good times and i wish life was that easy because then we could kind of prepare in the good times for the hard times but what i found is that that life doesn't come at us in hills and valleys it comes at us in waves it comes at us in waves right that that there are waves of his goodness and his mercy when we feel like we are drowning in waves of guilt and shame he has waves of purpose when we feel like we're going to be taken out with our pain he has waves and wave dancers others others that that he sends our way he says this inheritance of god's family he sends us sisters in our darkest times to let us know that we are not alone see he wants to meet you in the middle of your storm he he wants us to to continue to take our eyes off of our disappointments to take our eyes off of our circumstances take our eyes off of the chaos of this culture and fix our eyes on him and i want you to know that he is not waiting for you on the shoreline but he wants to meet you in the middle of your storm that's the kind of god that he i want you to listen to this word psalm 89 verse 9 says this says god you rule over the oceans and the swelling sees when your stormy waves rise you speak and they lie still let me say that again when stormy waves rise he speaks and they lie still see i believe that that jesus wants to speak to you in your storm tonight but even more he wants to speak to your storm more than he wants to speak to your storm he wants to speak to you in the storm because some there are some words that that you're going to hear when he is close that you may not hear any other time and see the scripture doesn't say that that the waves disappear it says that they lie still they lie still this becomes a little smooth the perfect dance floor the perfect dance floor see and i know that that when you walk out of this place tonight you're going to be facing some waves and you maybe you walked in and and you kind of rolled in on a wave and i don't know what your wave is maybe it's the wave of of grief because you've lost someone in this last season and you're wondering am i ever am i ever going to be happy again am i ever going to feel joy again because the loss has cut you so deep and i want you to know that his word says that he turns our mourning into dancing and he is near he wants to speak to you in your storm it might be the storm of of self-doubt and you're sitting here thinking julie i am just so thankful to have survived i don't have the strength to do what you are saying i am worn out i want you to know that his strength is made perfect in your weakness and because his strength is perfect you don't have to be you don't have to be maybe maybe you're you're facing this wave of anxiety and depression and and you think that you got it you think you got it you think you can ride it out this time and then the other the next wave comes and it takes you under and i don't know what your wave is but i want you to think about the wave that's waiting i just want you to close your eyes for a minute and picture the wave [Music] because i believe that if we are going to be wave dancers then we need to do what jesus did and speak his word to the waves and so i want to declare some things over our sisterhood over you tonight and i want you to declare it to your wave right now and i'm gonna just make a declaration i just want you to just say it loudly like you believe it after me i am more than a storm survivor i am more i am a wave dancer and even though this wave seems uncontrollable it seems unstoppable [Music] and at times unpredictable [Music] i am not a victim of this force of nature but i am the daughter of the force of all nature [Music] i will not surrender to this wave but i will fully surrender to the one who speaks peace to the waves [Music] and jesus i invite you into the middle [Music] would you teach me how to dance [Applause] here in god's presence the tides shift in the tango of our trials jesus sweetly guides us into his place of peace a place of safety a place of release [Music] a place of grace a place where his kingdom collides with creation where we can ride the waves where we can thrive in the waves and maybe where we can even dance on the waves my heart is i'm here to bring you home [Music] [Music] don't be afraid look up and lift your eyes futures your healing has begun i'm making all things [Music] don't be afraid [Music] always come on let's go [Applause] oh me [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] you are more than a storm survivor you are a wave dancer and i hope that you accept the invitation to walk with him as a wave dancer in this next season and ladies i really believe that that what god wants to impart into your life and into your heart tonight is just beginning because tonight we have my very dear friend with us lisa harper and her daughter missy and i just want you to know that just four weeks ago lisa was in the hospital with kovid and they honestly were not sure if that she was going to make it and she is standing here is a of a miracle of god's grace his healing power and i just want you to know that that when i asked her she would come i actually told her you you don't need to come i know that you know that you're still in recovery but but she said no i cannot miss this time i just want you know she is one of the greatest bible teachers that i know plus she's a hilarious theologian and i just want you to stand to your feet and welcome our sister lisa harper oh please sit down before i go any further i have to confess that i am pathologically biased when it comes to your lead pastors i love pastors todd and julie mullins actually the only thing and i looked for something to dislike about julie and the only thing i could find is that her rear end is about the size of my knee and that's really the only i know we shouldn't talk about fannie's insurance should we but but anyway i hope y'all didn't pay much for these tickets um i have to wear pants every time i'm at christ fellowship because i have a tattoo of todd and julie's face on this path i thought that would be weird that would be awkward the the first time i got to be with y'all at sisterhood i was convinced that julie had gotten me confused with lisa bouvier and i thought goodness gracious if you've ever met lisa we're about the same age she's actually a tad older than me but she's gorgeous and she's got like tight arms and she always wears leather pants and i thought if i try to keep this up and wear leather pants it's going to sound like ducks are being killed so i didn't want to disappoint julie and and so to get to come back a second time is just it is a gift i don't deserve so thank you um pastor julie also very graciously told me i could bring show and tell tonight and they're here um you yeah yeah for you um and i i just want to testify um when i was 50 years old i was just dumb as a rock in my 20s and 30s and i was really attracted to abusive men and i told some of the staff yesterday that god protected me from the men i was most attracted to and then he protected the good godly guys that y'all married for me because i was hot messed on a stick for for just decades really and i i thought i had just completely walked past the possibility of motherhood god healed the deepest toxic roots from my heart and my 40s and i can still remember the the visit with my lady parts doctor when he told me that he said it nicer and more medically than this but basically them ovaries were raisins and that i would not be able to have a child biologically and and i remember thinking you know that is the consequence of my sin i feel like i'm standing right over a fan and i feel like it's blowing straight up my spanx so i'm uh y'all get it y'all aren't gonna be able to unsee that baby um but i remember thinking this is just the consequence of sin there are consequences to sin and because of my toxicity i'm never going to get to be a mom but y'all here's the thing our god is kind he is so so so good so kind such a redeemer and he redeemed for me decades that i just served up to locust on a silver platter and the year i turned 50 same year i went through menopause i got to bring missy home from haiti through the miracle of adoption but here's here's kind of the icing on the cake of the testimony first of all you have to admit we look almost exactly like like it's hard for people to tell we're adopted but but here's here's the bigger deal missy's first mama who i can't wait to meet in glory marie she died of undiagnosed aids in haiti was totally stigmatized basically kept in the back of a shack she didn't know she had aids she had missy and unwittingly um missy got hiv from her first mama and then because of their conditions missy's mama passed away when missy was a baby missy also had tuberculosis and cholera and extreme malnutrition and so doctors in port-au-prince said she had about two months to live after her first mama died our daughter marie's baby girl and my adopted baby girl she's 11. and her her hiv is completely undetectable is it okay that i say this i said is it okay that i tell all of them yes okay mama um she has no signs of tuberculosis on her lungs she's healthy as a horse she is a beautiful precious kid do you want to say anything hey y'all and um four weeks ago when i was in the hospital four and a half weeks ago the doctors thought that i that i was unconscious but i could hear and when they began talking about the fact that they weren't sure they could um get me back to the land of the living my lungs were failing um i just remember being like lord i have peace with you i'm okay if you take me home i'm not okay for missy to be an orphan again and so would you please um would you please just give me breath in my lungs again and when the pulmonologist came into my room a day and a half later and he said you're you're gonna live um but we aren't sure if you'll ever be able to breathe without supplemental oxygen i said doctor do you know the the greek word for holy spirit in the new testament and he said no i don't my physician is a an amazing man and a christian man but he said no i don't know that word and i said well it's pneuma it means breath and i said the holy spirit is my breath and god has promised me psalm 91 that i will be satisfied with long life because he doesn't just love me he adores my kid and so um some of y'all so identified with what julie said when she said you you feel like you've rolled in here because it has been a heck of a season and you may feel like you're in between waves you know how you get knocked by one and you somehow get up and you're discombobulated but you you kind of stand your feet again and you weren't expecting the second one that's even bigger and some of you are like you know i'm just not sure i can hang on to hope and so i thought it might help to see a tangible testimony to see two girls who actually weren't supposed to be here tonight don't listen to the reports of man because our god is bigger our god is better i'm not trying to be i'm not trying to be a pollyanna because there are deaths due to covid there are deaths that that just are part of the fall and so i'm not trying to be a pollyanna and say everything's to be perfect and you're going to get a high metabolism and paints that aren't stretchy in your future i'm not saying that that hasn't been my testimony what i am saying is that our god is good our god is kind our god is a redeemer and what he has for you in your future i would almost bet everything i have that it's beyond what you have the faith to pray for tonight and so before we dive into the text would y'all bow your heads and close your eyes and i apologize to those of y'all who thought you were coming to an essential oils conference tonight um there are really good snacks in a few minutes so so hang with us but if you'd bow your heads and close your eyes and put your hands palm up in your lap just in the posture of receptivity and once you ask god for what you need tonight when jesus encountered a blind man named bartimaeus so beautiful the crowd tried to hush him up and jesus stopped he was actually on his way to easter and he paused easter for this one man nobody else would give the time of day and when they brought bartimaeus to east to jesus jesus looked at him and said what do you need so imagine that the king of all kings is standing here in his incarnate form tonight back in the first century he would have been wearing a white robe with blue tassels on the corners he's not blonde and blue eyed like so many of the paintings from germans he's a he's a jewish guy so he's probably got dark hair and olive skin and he's looking at you with a face that is just illuminated with compassion and he says honey what are you what do you need tonight do you just tell him that right now you have to tell anybody else just tell jesus what you need tonight some of you have plenty of breath in your lungs but you've all but run out of hope in your heart ask him what you need tonight [Music] jesus jesus jesus [Music] thank you for this sacred space where we can come together and we can laugh and tease and eat carbohydrates that don't count because we're in church and we can be honest we don't have to pretend like we have it all together we can come in and say jesus i don't think i can keep walking tomorrow apart from you much less dance and so jesus we confess our neediness right now we ask that you would remind those of us who know you personally of the joy of our salvation and our friends these precious sisters who've come with us tonight who don't yet believe that a god like you could absolutely adore a girl like them lord i pray that even now your holy spirit would whisper to them i see you i love you you don't have to earn my affection but i pray that they would come home into your arms tonight have your way in this place lord jesus through through your spirit give us eyes to see ears to hear and hearts that would uh more fully understand this glorious hope this breath that you've bought for us we ask this in your name jesus and by the authority of the blood you said on our behalf on calvary and all two thousand gorgeous sisters said amen interestingly enough the most difficult wave that i've endured this last season was not the hospitalization and the getting a little too close to death for my comfort it was um it was actually the death of a deer deer deer friend of mine to suicide a year ago about six weeks into covid in 2020 do you remember when cove would first started march a year ago and you remember thinking man this is our season as christians i thought man this is like our super bowl i'm going to be catapulting toilet paper to my neighbors like with tracks like we've got hope for the world and then by june i was like i am going to andy's for blended custards and then stretchy pants do you all have andes oh it's it's from the pit it's terrible i have this line i will not eat ice cream i ate chips and queso by like the gallon but ice cream i'm just like no i can't have ice cream because i've been a fluffy season for about 20 years and so i just don't eat ice cream and i remember buy about jean i remember dr in tennessee we have this place called andes and they have custard not ice cream it's custard it's even smoother and they have this custard that they blend with dark chocolate and strawberries which makes it almost paleo and so i was driving by there in june we'd been in covid for a couple of months and i thought you know all i wear is sweatpants anyway you know it's coveted no one cares and i thought i'm just going to have a blended i'm going to cross my own line and i'm going to get a blended and and i got the blended and i was going to get a kitty size and i thought no you know that would be cheap i'm going to get a a big one but then i'm going to save it in the freezer and i'll eat it later in like a month or so when i want to be really bad again i ate the whole thing like a hoover vacuum and i thought i'm not gonna do that again i am now an andes frequent buyer card owner i mean it just was a booger of a season and a couple of months into covid someone very very very close to me committed suicide and i thought jesus i just don't know how to walk through this this wave has just knocked me to my knees and i remember sitting at the kitchen in the middle of the night at the island and i just said i need something fresh i just i feel like i'm running on fumes i need something fresh and he gave me a word that i hope will encourage you tonight you'll know the beginning of this word actually i've had any sense which i've never been accused of that but i'm actually re-preaching one line of julie's message julie said our god's grace is sufficient his strength is perfect so you don't have to be and i have never been as concise as pastor julie and so i'm just going to preach the paul harvey part of that those of you over 50 remember paul the paul harvey part was always the rest of the story those of you with tight skin and high metabolisms under 50. you can just google him later but this is this is the paul harvey part of julie's message turn to luke if you've got your bible chapter 1 verse 26 in the sixth month the angel gabriel was sent from god to a city of galilee named nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was joseph of the house of david and the virgin's name was mary and he came to her this angel named gabriel came to this teenage girl most new testament scholars think she was about 12 or 13 years old at this point 12 was the normal age for a jewish girl to get married and he came to this kid who's probably at the cusp of puberty and he said to mary greetings o favored one the lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might mean can you imagine a 12 year old kid and a 10 foot angel who's glowing comes to her and says god has given me a man i'd be a little discombobulated too i'd be like i would just rather you stand at a distance and then he really shocks her and he says he says don't be afraid man you found favor with god and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name jesus and she's thinking i went to a christian school we didn't even have prom what are you talking about i'm not wild like lisa harper i'm sweet like julie mullins what in the world are you talking about we don't even have hbo at my house gabe and he said you're going to bear a son and he will be great will be called the son of the most high and the lord god will give to him the throne of his father david and he will reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end and mary i imagine with a trembling voice voice said to the angel how will this be since i don't have an eharmony account how will this be i've never kissed or been kissed how will this be since i've never been physically intimate with a man and gabriel answered her the holy spirit will come upon you upon you if you have a brick and mortar bible i encourage you to underline come upon you that's what the staff here at christ fellowship has been praying for all of us prior to sisterhood is that the holy spirit would come upon us the those two words in english come from one word in the greek it's epicomai the holy spirit will uppercom i you he'll draw near to you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy hagon the son of god now the virgin birth is an incredible anomaly in our culture but in first century culture the idea of a virgin birth wasn't nearly as much of an anomaly as it is in our culture because you've got to remember during first century culture during the time jesus was was born incarnate christ during his earthly ministry um they were mostly most first world countries during that time were under the authority of greco-roman culture and greco-roman culture believed in the pantheon and you remember the pantheon is all those gods and goddesses little g gods and goddesses like zeus and all these different people we read about in greek mythology if you paid any attention in history in high school and if you studied greek mythology and i want to underscore mythology they were myths but if you study greek mythology the idea of a virgin birth is very common there were lots of human women according to greek mythology who gave birth and yet were never physically intimate with a man there were supposedly a whole slew of girls who got jiggy with zeus who were humans and had children he was a player and a half according to greek mythology perseus hercules if you've seen wonder woman she was supposedly according to mythology half god and half human you've got to understand when gabriel says to this young woman the holy spirit will come upon you he makes it very very clear i'm not talking about anything untoward there's there's nothing lascivious about this the holy spirit is not going to ask you out to dinner and then get racy in the car afterwards that's not what this is about culture will tell you that's what happened that's a lie from the pit god speaks to mary and says don't be afraid this is not going to be scary this is not going to be painful the holy spirit is going to come close to you and it's going to be a holy moment it's not going to be an abusive or scary moment it has nothing to do with physical sexual intimacy this has to do with the kindness of our king that exact word in the greek is used again i want you to head to the right to acts chapter 1. i'm making all the baptists nervous turn into acts but turn to acts chapter 1. so when they came together verse 6 and you remember the context of acts remember luke dr luke wrote the gospel according to luke and the acts of the apostles he wrote those together as a seamless document when they canonized scripture they put john in between if y'all are in the habit of reading through the bible when you get to the end of the gospel of luke the gospel according to luke vault over john come back for john later but go straight into the acts of the apostles because he wrote those together and the redemption the symmetry and redemption is incredible so jesus has just died on the cross end of luke we get to the beginning of acts and we're told because he knows that most of us are slow to understand little thick up here instead of shazaming straight to glory in his redeemed body after he was resurrected jesus because he's such a kind god y'all he's not a unibrow librarian he's not walking around heaven with a giant bible waiting to smack us over the head he's just not that's why i love when julie said his strength is perfect so we don't have to be so many times in our culture we think to be a christian means that you know you have a quilted bible cover and you double spanx and you smile all the time and it's all about our behavior that's not true it's about his compassion it's all about his mercy such a good god so he decides jesus i say he decides it's actually foreplanned jesus stays here on earth in his resurrected body so that the people back then who were just as goofy as we are now and slow to understand could actually encounter a resurrected redeemer do you remember when doubting thomas said how can i how can i know that it's you i don't think it's you pastor lisa you remember jesus said tom you can touch the nail prints in my hands let me show you so he hangs around for about a month there's only about a hundred or so people who actually encounter the christ and that motley crew of young believers before they called us christians they called us followers of the way they followed jesus up a hill that's where we are acts chapter 1 so when they had come together they asked him lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to israel and he said to them it is not for you to know times or seasons the father is fixed by his own authority in other words y'all are asking the wrong question but you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in jerusalem and judea and okeechobee you really will be my witnesses and he says you will receive power after holy spirit has come upon you same word epicoma after the holy spirit draws near to you do you remember what happened immediately after jesus promises that well after he ascends into glory to sit at the right hand of the father where he is now do you remember what happened on earth right after that y'all remember disciples are eating take out probably chick flakes that's christian company and the holy spirit comes upon them and it is dynamic now a lot of people are like and then the holy spirit appeared i'm like no go to genesis 1. he's always been there this is just his debutant party in the new testament he comes upon these followers of jesus christ do you remember what happened afterwards presbyterian stay here what happens next is actually not what divides pressed presbyterians and pentecostals what happens next is so stinking amazing the holy spirit epicomize them and they begin to speak in other languages we call that tongues today but in this case it's actually not divisive because the tongues they spoke in in greek language was glossalia that means they were known tongues it's at pentecost pentecost was a huge deal in the first century huge huge celebration it's like bigger than the super bowl mardi gras the annual shoe sale at nordstrom's it's a big deal so jews have come from all over the diaspora which is just a fancy word for jews who don't live in jerusalem so you've got jews from at least 15 different countries who speak 15 different languages and that little motley crew of christ followers begin to share the hope of jesus in the language of the visiting jews who didn't speak their dialect it is an incredible miracle y'all he speaks clarity where there's only confusion and chaos that may sound crazy it sounds pentecostal let me tell you the miracle is that god speaks vibrancy into void i've heard so many sermons about bringing your potential to god and he'll breathe on it and activate your potential and i'm like actually what i read is we bring nothing to god and he brings breathes on it and becomes supernatural that's what i read what he tells mary is honey i don't need your fertility i need your faith what he tells these these young believers they're confused pete had just thrown jesus under the bus less than a month before this he's just denied that he even knew the christ god breathes on them and says i don't need your fluency i need your faith i just need you to believe that i can do this and they share the hope of christ and people just get saved by the thousands it's incredible he breathes living hope where there was a complete lack thereof he breathes vibrancy out of void healing in the midst of hurt and of course christmas and pentecost are not the only times he does that turn back to genesis 1 to the very beginning where we see god the father god the son god the holy spirit in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness was though the face of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters and god said let there be light and there was life so there's pitch dark and god speaks and there's pure light seven times in genesis 1. it says and god said and then shazam from void not potential from void there is pure pure light it's incredible y'all everything we can experience today as imago day image bearers of god but humans limited by time and space everything we can see everything we can experience everything was breathed by god he just spoke seven times to do it chris kane who y'all just had as one of my best friends and i get so tickled when chris said god sneezed and out came the world that's not perfect theology but i i think it kind of kind of gives you the gist that he didn't need something to start with and it's not like you gave him ingredients and he created the world there was nothing and god created everything we can see those gorgeous waves on the screen god just just breathes it void vibrancy my favorite void the vibrancy story happened soon after that when god speaks to an octogenarian couple abe and sarah and he says i i know that y'all are both wearing depends but uh i want you to activate your costco card because y'all are going to need a whole lot of pampers you remember that story vibrancy out of void life out of infertility you don't have to be perfect you can actually think you're drowning and god will carry you and teach you how to dance on the waves it's not up to us y'all what we have to have is faith you can still struggle you can be here tonight and go i just wish that woman would shut up so i could get out of here the only reason i came is i didn't know how to say no to my mother-in-law if that's you can i get an amen oh y'all are sissies my favorite my favorite vibrancy at a void passage is in ezekiel 37 the hand of the lord was upon me this is ezekiel speaking this testimony this has become man one of my favorite passages especially this past month and he brought me out in the spirit of the lord and set me down in the middle of the valley it was full of bones and he led me around among them and behold there were very many on the surface of the valley and behold they were very dry and he said to me son of man can these bones live now y'all listen to this ezekiel answered oh lord you know in other words i'm not sure i'm not sure i'm not going to tell you i think they could live lord because they look really really dry gardens boyington espanol scott if you get a picture of me from the waist down i'm gonna kick you in the shins it's all all up here brother that's scott running the jig christ fellowship online i'm gonna turn here because that's a better view christ fellowship online royal palm west palm beach riviera and jupiter i thought you were online i thought you were online can some of y'all witness with wondering if the bones are going to dance can some of y'all witness too lord i'm gonna look to you but from what i can tell i can't imagine these bones dancing they have no breath in them that's almost exactly what the doctor said about my lungs four and a half weeks ago then god said to me prophesy over these bones and say to them o dry bones hear the word of the lord thus says the lord god to these bones behold i will cause breath to enter you and you shall live and i will lay sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and you shall know that i am the lord so i prophesied even though i wasn't sure i looked to the lord instead of what i could see in the natural i trusted that god could breathe something supernatural out of something that didn't seem that special so i prophesied as i was commanded and as i prophesied there was a sound and behold a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone as i and i looked and behold there were sinners upon them and skin had covered them but there was no breath in them that's me the first day and a half then he said to me prophesy to the breath prophesy son of man daughter of man and say to the breath thus says the lord god come from the four winds o breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live so i prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood in their feet an exceedingly great army so god without our help without our help he brings vibrancy at a void he brings pure light out of pitch dark he brings sanctuaries out of cemeteries that's what our god does y'all it's not about our capacity it is about his character that's who he is he's a good good god and even when our life doesn't seem so good that doesn't limit his sovereign faithfulness he's always good he is always in the process of redeeming the inherent dignity in us some of you carry shame because of molestation in your past goodness gracious i did for decades i could preach to y'all what i couldn't believe myself and in that god is still redeeming you he's going to get you the point where you go what owns me for years no longer binds me anymore he has set me free from that shame and a person who abused you may never say i'm sorry and here's the deal god's grace is sufficient he will carry you to the wave where he teaches you how to dance some of y'all are bound by bad marriages and you think if only he hadn't left me and i want to go don't you remember psalm 68 lord have mercy i'm 57 and i am single and i've been celibate forever but i'm not bitter about it psalm 68 psalm 68 god is a husband of the husband listen a father to the father of us y'all he really is sufficient even if he and all of his mercy had chosen to take me home a month and a half ago you know what he whispered to me the first night that i was afraid he said lisa don't you remember how much i love missy don't you remember i've already healed her don't you remember she was mine before she was yours i will take care of my child and you know what i said yes sir yes sir thank you jesus i'm so sorry i forgot the very beginning of kova the most difficult thing before i experience the loss of a dear friend most difficult thing was i had some friends in the medical community call me and they said lis you need to stockpile some of missy's medicine she's on antiretrovirals god has by his grace use medicine and the medical community to heal my daughter drives me crazy and people say if only you had more faith you take her off those antiretrovirals i'm like you guys have asthma he's an inhaler right you have cancer you did chemo right i just dressed me crazy the way christian women judge each other i know you don't do it christ fellowship i know y'all don't i've met y'all y'all are sweet sometimes in tennessee and sometimes on social media and i'm telling you if you don't have peace in your life right now put down your phone for 30 minutes i've never seen people who claim to be christians be so ugly anyway they said lisa you need to stockpile some of her antiretrovirals because there's possibility they're going to use those meds to come up with a protocol because they're just grasping at straws as how to how to combat covid and so they said you need to stockpile some river medicine she's at the time was on three antiretrovirals twice twice a day and so i started calling around everybody i knew that might have this medicine and in missy's dispensation because she's little that pediatric form it's hard to find in normal conditions well darren covet it was almost impossible to find took me almost a month to finally find somebody who would had had mrs antiretrovirals and i explained my situation to them and i said i will do anything to get that medicine at that point we had less than two weeks at the house and the the pharmacist said well i need to tell you that because this is not under your insurance plan you're gonna have to pay in cash for this medicine and i was like yes sir i totally understand that and he said well it's gonna be five thousand dollars and i said that's that's fine now i i travel for work and at the beginning of covid i lost a year of work and so our god is a perfect provider he is jehovah gyra so please hear me i am not remotely poor mouthing obviously i've never gone hungry but it just wasn't a great time for me to spend five thousand dollars of what in the budget but i was like i don't care if we have to put a second mortgage on my house i mean that's that's fine and so i i give him the money and he tells me the meds will be there in three days and then three days later they inform me that they've lost the medicine i won't tell you what company did that at rhyme switch medics but they lost the medicine and um took them another three or four days to find it in a warehouse in chattanooga and they told me the day that they were going to get the meds to my house had two days left of medicine for missing and so i thought i'm going to sit on my front porch because you know sometimes they'll deliver and you're like i went to the restroom for 30 seconds and you get that little yellow sticky that like come to the i'm like oh you are kidding me so i thought if i have to wear a catheter so be it i'm gonna sit on my porch from seven in the morning until that delivery truck comes up the hill we live out in the boonies south of nashville tennessee and so i waited and waited and waited and waited and waited sure left about two o'clock in the afternoon that truck truck comes up our driveway and this was at the beginning in covid where you ran out with lysol and sprayed the passage and capped package brought it in so i'm like crying wanting to hug the driver you can tell he's like what is in this package and so i i got her meds i go up to the porch and y'all i couldn't walk anymore you know sometimes you're so overwhelmed by the goodness of god you just you just have to kneel and so i got down on the ground on the porch and i just said thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus you are perfect you are a perfect provider you are a husband that has blessed thank you for the way you've cared so tangibly for my daughter i just wept and then i thought i need to go in the house and tell missy what god has done and as i stood up my phone buzzed and i pulled my phone out of my pocket and i had a text and i had a text from a pastor to church where i had been in october this was the end of april in october i had the privilege of being at his church and he said lisa our elders got together and were praying about how we could help people who lost and he said during that season of prayer about how we would dispense these funds one of the elders had a dream about you and he came into the elder meeting and said i believe god wants our house to bless missy and lisa and he said just a little bit of time i've been around you my guess is that you wouldn't take money from people and because i'm a materialistic pig i'm really careful about i don't have a ministry where you can give gifts i just you know those of y'all her teachers y'all pay taxes i pay taxes i'm real careful about that because i know how my heart would could get really out of order in that area and so there's no way i don't have a website we can give money any of that and he said so we called your assistant and he said she gave us your bank routing number he said so i'm not asking for permission i'm sending you a screenshot of the money we just wired to your account and i just want you to guess how much money it was now hear me please hear me please please hear me because some of y'all i came really close to rubbing salt in your wounds because some of y'all are really struggling financially after this last year and so please hear me i don't in any way want to cause you to stumble by bragging about money um it's not at all my intention my intention is to to explain to you that our god sees our god knows our god cares in that moment he said to me i've got you i've got missy i've got this don't be afraid in that moment he took my trembling hand and he pulled me up on a wave that there's no way i could swim there by myself and he said dance with me i will take care of you he sees you tonight pastor julie would you please come up so respect her as the mother of this house [Applause] and i love the way she loves you i wish you could hear her when she prays for you i wish you could see the time she weeps because her heart is broken for what has broken your hearts um the main reason they have sisterhood at christ fellowship is to remind you what just took me 40 minutes to explain god loves you yeah god loves you he wants a real relationship with you he does it's not about religion right right it's not about religion it's not even about church membership you want a sisterhood who can take the corner of your mat and carry you to the roof and lower you to jesus when you need it we can't survive without that but that's not what really will meet the deepest need the deepest cry of your heart it's jesus it's a personal relationship with jesus christ y'all are here at sisterhood so i know most of y'all at least have some language around christianity some of y'all are christers you come to christ fellowship every christmas and every easter egg and so you you know at least some of the main stories but if you were in a safe place which i have experienced sisterhood to be and you were being honest you'd say i don't know jesus personally i just hope at the end of my life the good outweighs the bad and somehow i'll get to heaven y'all it's so much better than that he's so much kinder than that he's so much more personal than that he wants a real relationship with you not just christ fellowship with you he knows your name yeah let me ask how to bow your heads and close your eyes one more time and forgive me i know that may sound religious i'm not trying to be religious i just want you to know that you're safe yeah no one's going to manipulate you at sisterhood we're not going to single you out this is between you and the god who loves you more than you can possibly ask or imagine even if you feel like you have no potential god loves you if you're on the right hand side of this room or any of the rooms any of the campuses that are joining us tonight if you're on the right hand side of that room even the living room and you want a personal relationship with jesus christ or you want to come home maybe you gave your heart to jesus a long time ago at a youth camp but something happened that just broke your heart and you've been running ever since and tonight you sense the holy spirit going daughter it's time to come home you're not going to find hope anywhere else but me i'm your breath i'm your hope i'm your peace so those of y'all on the right hand side of all these rooms represented if you want to know jesus personally or you want to come home to jesus for the first time after season away julie and i are the only ones with their eyes open would you just real quickly slip up your right or your left hand oh goodness gracious welcome to the family welcome to the family welcome to family welcome family welcome to family we're not going to ask you to stand we just want to know who we're praying for if you're in the middle of this room back in the theater seats and that's the cry of your heart you want to know god personally through jesus christ his only begotten son that he's sent here to this earth in a suit of skin to make a way for us to be reconciled for us to be held by god set free by god forgiven by god if that's the cry of your heart you're in a personal relationship with jesus you want to lean into his arms would you just slip up your righty left hand coming home to jesus welcome to the family welcome to the family welcome so many hands y'all dozens and dozens of daughters launching themselves into the arms of jesus far left-hand side of the room if you want to know jesus personally you desperately need restoration you are so tired of trying to clean yourself up so tired of trying to be good enough so tired of trying to pretend like you have it all together jesus is saying daughter come home that's the cry of your heart just slip up your right or your left hand julian are the only ones yeah goodness gracious pastor julie is going to lead you all to the arms of jesus yes i just want to say that at the beginning of the night we said tonight is an invitation it's an invitation for for many of us in this room to invite his power and his presence into the middle of our storm but for so many of you that just raised your hand today you just answered an invitation that jesus issued to you tonight he knew you were going to be here tonight and he sent out the invitation and said come follow me so i want to pray for you but everyone's going to pray with you this prayer but you're going to pray just a little bit louder because this is your prayer so let's girls let's just pray together and if this is your prayer pray this just a little louder say dear lord jesus thank you for meeting me in the middle of my storm thank you for loving me right where i am but loving me too much for me to stay there god i pray that you would forgive me of my sins make me a new person from the inside out and from this day forward i will follow you all the days of my life in jesus name amen amen hey if you prayed that prayer if you prayed that prayer i want you to know that you made the best decision that you're ever gonna make right not only not only does he have eternity waiting for you but he has a full abundant life for you to live here on this earth in this in this house in this sisterhood so i just want i want to tell you two things first of all keep coming back we don't just meet on thursday nights every once in a while we have church every single weekend and you need to keep coming back into an atmosphere of faith that's going to cheer you on and call you up and the second thing is is that we just want to come alongside you in this journey so if you prayed that prayer i want you to just text the word sisterhood to 441 441 and there's there's a place there that asks if you made a decision i want you to click that because we want to send something to you and a seven-day devotional that's going to help you in these in the coming days for you to walk out your faith well girls across all of our locations downtown online everyone that's watching we have had such an amazing time together in the presence of god and now your pastor's gonna come up and just share some final words for you as we head to the dance party love you guys wow what an incredible night tonight has been and hey if you made that decision tonight we would love for you to text sisterhood to 441-441 there you'll see a box that you can click on that ask you the question did i make a decision today click on that box so that we can join you in this exciting new journey of your new life absolutely yeah and hey tonight was great so amazing seriously man what a powerhouse i love what she said about you know it's not about our capacity it's about god's character and that's why he's so good did you have a takeaway from yeah absolutely i love that as well when she shared that i also loved how she shared that that god created out of the void that nothing was brought to the table there was no ingredients laid out there was nothing and yet god still created something beautiful that really resonated with me tonight i loved it beautiful everything was great and hey we're gonna we made some promises we made some promises at the beginning of the night if you guys remember and we we promised some giveaways and yeah we want to give away free free free thank you that's important we're going to give away some free things we want to give away a gift to somebody who shared this service yeah and shared your service right at the beginning and so cheryl huggins we have a giveaway coming to you guys girl so make sure you check your inbox we cannot wait to celebrate with you that's amazing i love it thank you guys for engaging so much all throughout the night it's been amazing and we're gonna keep this party rolling it doesn't stop here it does not we're going to roll right into the weekend oh hello mother's day mother's day congratulations to all my mothers out there you're working so hard we love you guys and we're going to celebrate you sunday at church all right so families come out the best way to celebrate your mama is to get the family to church and so we're gonna have some special moments throughout our service we're also gonna have the pop-up shop that's right okay so if you need any last-minute mother's day gifts these are sure to not disappoint that's a great place to pick it up so we want to encourage you guys come out sunday for mother's day to a campus near you join us online it's going to be a really special time come to riviera beach hey we'd love to have you there it's going to be a party it's a party every sunday yeah so we'd love to have you and hey tonight would not be a pastor julie event unless she gave out more gifts right she loves to give gifts she's getting a generous heart we love that about her best gift giver and so we have some downloadables for you guys and so they actually kind of look like this oh she's got one right here so you can download this there's options yes there's options so you can text sisterhood to 441 441 and then click on downloadable that's right that way you can print it out you can put it on your mirror you can post it in your car love that or you can even just keep it as a background on your phone so they're just encouraging messages and we love that thank you pastor julian really if anything they want to do with sisterhood anything you missed tonight you might have picked up on it you can text sisterhood to 441-441 awesome we love you guys so much and we've had the best night celebrating with you we don't want you to just miss out no on this stay connected tonight stay connected we're doing so many great things over the summer and we want you to join us and so we love you we sure do all right we love you take it easy [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Christ Fellowship Church

Views: 20,651

Rating: 4.9153848 out of 5

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Id: RmzxxayozZ0

Length: 117min 41sec (7061 seconds)

Published: Fri May 07 2021